


Self Reflection? Not so Much as Self Rejection

by eyeless_soul



Category: Real Person Fiction
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:07:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29347863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eyeless_soul/pseuds/eyeless_soul
Summary: A drunken Joe Flanigan shows up at David's door. David tries to get to the root of the problem.
Relationships: Joe Flanigan/David Hewlett
Kudos: 1





	Self Reflection? Not so Much as Self Rejection

Joe walked; more like stumbled onto David's front porch. His hand, poised in the air to knock but he didn't make contact. He didn't know what he was going to say. He thought of just leaving but he knew that at the moment, he had no where to go. So he just stood on the porch, trying to debate on what to do. He was surprised when David opened the door, it was late and he had thought that by knocking he would have woken the other man up.

"Joe? Is everything okay?" He took in the other man's disheveled appearance. His hair was standing on end, more awkwardly than normal, his clothes were rumpled and his eyes were blood shot; like he'd either had too much to drink or had been crying. David knew that depending on what had happened, it was probably both. 

Joe nodded but David didn't miss the sniffle, or the way that he refused to meet David's eyes. David stepped further inside his house, trying to encourage him to step inside. When Joe failed to move and just stood on porch staring at the ground, David held out his hand. "Come on inside, buddy." Joe shrugged again and when he tried to step forward he nearly fell into the other man. Not for the first time since they first met was David happy that Joe was so slight, as he hefted the other man onto the couch. He removed Joe's belt and shoes as he covered him with a blanket. He knew that he would have to discuss this with Joe in the morning but for now he'd let the man sleep--he knew that Joe was unconscious but he also knew to berate the man would do little to help the situation.

_______________

Joe groaned as the sunlight hit his eyes. He briefly debated on whether it would be worth sliding off the couch and onto the floor, crawling over to the curtains that someone had neglected to close and closing them. As soon as he went to move, he felt his stomach roll and his head pound. He immediately turned to his side, breathing deeply through his nose and out through his mouth as he willed the nausea away. Once he was sure he wasn't going to vomit, he buried his head in the pillow. He couldn't remember how he had gotten there, he was hoping that he hadn't drove. He groaned into the pillow as he remembered the incident that had made him want to drink so heavily in the first place. He was ashamed of himself for losing control like that, but what was done was done. There was no erasing that. 

David, on the other hand, sat in the kitchen with his hands wrapped around a cup of coffee. He'd been where Joe was. His wife had known when she'd married him that he'd had a drinking problem. He'd promised that before their first child was born that he'd quit. He'd tried and failed. After he'd gotten black out drunk while he was supposed to be watching their daughter, she had offered him a choice. She was taking their kids and going to her mothers. He would either choose the bottle or her. It had been a fairly easy decision, he loved his wife and he loved his kids--easy decision but a long road, to any sort of recovery.

He knew that in order to help, Joe would need to want to get sober. He knew that yelling and screaming at him wasn't going to work. He's need to want this for himself. No, all he could do was be moral support, and be there to pick up the pieces, and be there to pick him up when he fell.

Eventually, the smell of coffee lured Joe to the kitchen. There was already a cup of it waiting for him opposite of David. Joe sat and took a sip, really hoping that the caffiene would knock out the hang over. They sat in silence. David had been doing this long enough to know that Joe would open up on his own. Joe sighed, "I screwed up again, didn't I?"

David smiled; it was a fond smile that Joe was used to getting. It was part paternal, part worry. "Why don't you tell me why you got so drunk."

Joe stared into the depths of his black coffee and mumbled. David knew that to anyone else it would have sounded jumbled; but he'd heard that name often enough . "Dunnigan."

David knew that Joe barely knew his biological father, but ever since the start of Atlantis, the man seemed hell bent on getting to know Joe. Even going as far as to ignore the fact that Joe no longer bore his last name. "What did he do this time?" David tried to surpress the shudder as he remembered the last time. Apparently the man had found out where Joe lived and broke into his house. Joe wouldn't go into much detail into what happened after that, all David did know was that was when Joe started drinking more, talking less, he quit therapy (which only David knew he was in), and more often than not could be found at either Momo's or David's. 

"He found me. He always finds me." Joe took a shuddering breath. He shook his head, his cheeks colouring slightly. "Never mind, I should go." He downed the rest of his coffee, wincing as the hot liquid rushed down his throat. David knew that he should stop him, hold him and tell him that everything would be okay. Instead he watched as Joe shakily put his belt back on. It hadn't escaped David's attention that Joe's belt was a hole tighter than it had been last time. David had to help him put on his shoes because his hands were shaking too bad for him to tie them himself. Joe walked to the front door, looking back at David as he put his hand on the handle.

"For what it's worth David, thanks." Before David could say anything, or respond to the sad look in Joe's eyes, he walked out the door. 

Just as the door closed, Jane came in. "Honey, I thought Joe was here."

David stood and hugged his wife before putting Joe's used cup in the sink. "He was, he's already gone."

"What was wrong?" Concern written on her face.

"His life, I guess. For once, I just wish I could build a time machine, go back to when Joe was a baby, and adopt him. He wouldn't have half his problems." David shrugged. He knew the only thing that he could do was be there for the other man. His wife left to go get their children and David was left to finish is coffee.


End file.
